One current, two former Bridgestone executives indicted for price-fixing

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

A tyre of Bridgestone Corp is displayed at its headquarters in Tokyo February 19, 2009.Kim Kyung-Hoon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One Bridgestone Corp (5108.T) executive and two former officials from the company were indicted Tuesday for conspiring to fix the prices of certain automotive parts, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Bridgestone itself agreed in February to plead guilty to price-fixing and agreed to pay a $425 million criminal fine. The case involves anti-vibration parts used in automotive suspension systems and engine mounts.

Yoshiyuki Tanaka, Yasuo Ryuto and Isao Yoshida, all Japanese nationals, were indicted on Monday in a court in Ohio for allegedly fixing the prices of parts sold to Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Nissan Motor Corp (7201.T), Suzuki Motor Corp (7269.T) and Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd (7270.T), which makes Subaru cars, the department said.

Tanaka works for Bridgestone while Ryuto and Yoshida are no longer with the company, the department said. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, it said.

Including Bridgestone, 26 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty in the department's long-running investigation of price-fixing in the auto parts industry. Thirty-two people have been charged.

The case is at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, and is the United States of America v. Yasuo Ryuto, Yoshiyuki Tanaka and Isao Yoshida. It is case No. 14-138.